Solar Decathalon and CISBE: A broad cooperative effort

There's a lot of collaboration going on at Norwich in the competition to win the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013.

The Feb 24 issue of the Guidon headlined the role of architecture students, but there are nearly 60 students overall involved in the project, drawing from engineering and construction management and marketing, as well as architecture.

The combined effort is spearheaded by the Center for Integrated Study of the Built Environment (CISBE), a cooperative cross-campus venture led by management Prof. Michael Puddicombe. He said two competing designs for Norwich's entry are now being developed and one will be selected sometime after the spring break as students across many disciplines hone their focus in the highly competitive contest.

CISBE's main objective, as the name denotes, is to integrate the diversity of Norwich's academic disciplines into one collaborative center of study.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced in late January that two schools from Vermont – Middlebury College and NorwichUniversity – were selected to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2013. The schools will compete in a worldwide competition to build solar-powered, highly energy-efficient homes that combine affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence.

 The 20 selected teams from colleges and universities across the United States and from around the worldare beginning a two-year processto design, construct and test their homes before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site in Irvine, Cal.  As part of the Solar Decathlon, teams compete in 10 different categories – ranging from best architecture and engineering to energy production for heating and cooling – while gaining invaluable real-world experience in a growing global industry. 

Matt Lutz, assistant professor of Architecture and team faculty leader, said the Norwich team is focusing on creating a highly energy-efficient, healthy-to-live-in dwelling  that is relevant to the "bioregion" of the Northeast.

 "We will crack the code on affordability," he said.